A New Jersey doctor pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding Amtrak of almost $1.4 million by submitting phony bills for procedures that were never provided or were medically unnecessary, prosecutors said.
For more than five years, Dr. Muhammad Mirza and a group of conspirators charged Amtrak's health plan for the bogus treatments by recruiting employees of the rail service and paying them to use their patient and insurance information to submit fraudulent claims.
Mirza, 50, of Cedar Grove, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud via videoconference with U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox.
In court documents, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Mirza conspired with podiatrist Michael Denicola and others to bribe Amtrak employees to use their information to submit false claims.
Mirza paid health care workers, including a nurse practitioner, to work part-time at other doctors' offices. He would then use those doctors' National Provider Identifier number without their knowledge to submit phony claims.
Mirza would routinely bill the Amtrak health care plan for services like nerve conduction studies and arthrocentesis procedures that were never done. He also billed Amtrak for phony procedures on dates when the nurse practitioner wasn't working and even once when she was out of the country on vacation.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the...
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